John Ary here with a super-sized look at a few action figure lines making headlines recently. As always click on the photos for an embiggened pic and for more information follow the pre-order links...
Battle-Damaged T-800 from Hot Toys
Hot Toys has already made a 1/6 scale T-800, but this time around they plan to focus on the gnarly damage inflicted by the T-1000. The figure will feature two newly developed head sculpts bearing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s likeness, one with the rolling eyeball system and the other with an LED-lighted robot eye. You can also expect a muscular body with more than 30 points of articulation, an interchangeable left battle-damaged forearm, 8 swappable hands, a movie-accurate costume with two black leather-like jackets, bandolier, grenade launcher with broken handle, machine gun, pistol with 12 bullets, a 1/6 scale T-1000 liquid metal statue, and a figure stand. Some markets will also get an alternate head for the T-1000 statue. Look for him to release in the third quarter of next year or you can pre-order Arnie here.
Agent Coulson from Hot Toys
Hot Toys has also released new pics and more information about its upcoming 1/6 scale action figure of Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. It will feature five interchangeable hands, a black suit with tie, shirt, socks, belt and shoes, a destroyer gun, pistol, sunglasses, headset, watch, walkie talkie, mobile phone, S.H.I.E.L.D. folder, staff card, Captain America trading cards and a figure stand. Look for him to arrive in the second quarter of 2013 or you can pre-order him here.
Big Red the Predator from NECA
Back in 2003, Sandy Collora premiered his fan film Batman: Dead End at San Diego Comic Con. In the short, the Dark Knight meets a group of Predators and awesomeness ensues. The leader of the Predator pack has now been immortalized in plastic thanks to NECA. Big Red will come with two katanas, two interchangeable hands and blister card packaging. He’ll release in the next few weeks along with the Masked City Hunter Predator and the Camo Cloaked Predator.
HD Masterpiece Bruce Lee
It seems like every quarter, high-end action figure collectors get a new Bruce Lee. Enterbay just announced its fourth version of the Jeet Kune Do master. His body features 30 points of articulation, two heads (one with a normal expression and the other with grouchy look), a classic Chinese outfit including a grey Kung Fu suit, a white vest, a pair of black socks, black Kung Fu shoes, a wooden bastinade, two wooden darts, two pairs of black wooden nunchucks, five interchangeable hands, and a figure stand. He’s up for pre-order here and will ship in mid-December.
Man of Steel Prototypes from Mattel
On June 14, 2013, Superman fans will get to see Zack Snyder's take on the Man of Steel. This week two eBay listings from China popped up, selling prototypes of a red 3.75-inch Superman and a 3.75-inch blue Superman based on the upcoming film. The sellers go by the names of domoliou and 80angelbabyand. Both seem to specialize in prototypes of other action lines including The Dark Knight Rises, G.I. Joe, and Star Wars. These pics give us glimpses at Superman's movie armor, with the red figure in particular sporting some interesting sculpting on his right arm. The toy line should start showing up at retail in the Spring.
DC Unlimited Series 3 from Mattel
Mattel has a new wave of 6-inch scale action figures on the way featuring the upcoming Injustice: Gods Among Us video game and New 52 relaunch. First we have Aquaman from Geoff John’s latest run on the series. Then there’s the big bad Darkseid from the Justice League relaunch. Superman will apparently sport some really tall boots in the new Mortal Kombat-style game. Finally expect to see the Injustice version of Joker in the mix, but we have yet to see a pic of his new figure. These will release in April or you can pre-order them here.
Halo Legends from McFarlane Toys
In 2010, 7 Japanese directors each created a short animated film based on the Halo universe. Those stories were clumped together into one movie called Halo Legends. The final chapter of the film, “The Package” will soon receive the action figure treatment thanks to McFarlane Toys. In the story, Master Chief, Frederic-104, and Kelly-087 must retrieve an important “package” from a giant enemy alien spaceship. This trio of Spartans will hit stores in February or you can pre-order the set here.
The Walking Dead Minimates Wave 2 from Diamond Select Toys
Based on the hit Robert Kirkman’s comic book, a new series of 2-inch action figures will stalk the shelves of your local Toys “R” Us and specialty shops soon. Andrea and her sister Amy will only be available at comic shops and specialty stores, while Lori and Morgan will be exclusive to Toys “R” Us and toysrus.com. Shared between both markets will be a two-pack of zombies and the sword-wielding Michonne.
Friday the 13th Wave 2 from NECA
Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I could take a machete to the face of this action figure”? Somehow, NECA has read your thoughts and created two definitive figures of Jason Voorhees from the fourth Friday the 13th film. The regular and battle damaged version of the slasher will each come with a unique removable mask and head sculpt. The 7.5-inch figures also feature 25 points of articulation, a machete, double headed axe and knife. These will begin to ship in the first part of 2012 or you can pre-order them here.
And finally this week, get your bets ready. You are about to see a battle for the ages! Electronic Batman takes on electronic Bane in some hardcore robot combat action. Thinkway Toys sent me a couple of their infrared action figures based on The Dark Knight Rises and we tested them out...
Before we wrap it up this week, I have a personal request to ask of my fellow toy geeks. There are a lot of kids who could use some holiday joy this season. Please donate an unwrapped item or some money to your local toy drive or charity of choice. It's easy, won't cost you much and could make a lucky kid's Christmas morning very special. Toys For Tots and The Salvation Army do some great work and could really use our help. Thanks! Also be sure to follow my toy blog ArticulationTimes.com on Twitter and Facebook for more news updates and subscribe to the AICN Youtube channel.
